1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to systems for the removal of airborne contaminants, such as vaporized tissue and other debris, that result from laser surgery and other surgeries that generate fumes or airborne debris.
2. Background Information
In the process of performing various forms of laser surgery, orthopaedic surgery or electrocauterization, common by-products are airborne fumes and particles, either wet or dry. For example, in the case of orthopaedic surgery, blood and debris rises from the cutting area, while in the case of laser surgery, the matter rising from the area of the operation is vaporized tissue. These by-products rise from the site of the surgery in the form of a plume, the by-products sometimes also being referred to as smoke, although they are not the result of combustion in the ordinary sense of the word. In the case of odors resulting from the lasing of organic tissue, for example, those odors are capable of lingering in the operating room for an extended time following the completion of the surgery.
Of greater concern than lingering odors, however, are the germs and viruses that may also linger in the air following the operation. These disease-carrying particles, if allowed to remain airborne in the operating room, may settle into the open wounds of the next patient being operated on, potentially resulting in the transmission of that disease to the next patient. As of the present time, it remains unclear to what extent these airborne viruses pose a threat to later patients of the operating room, although it is known that at least one virus, Human Papillomavirus DNA (HPV DNA), a wart virus, does survive the laser surgery procedure and may pose a health risk if allowed to linger in the operating room. Of potentially greater concern is the HIV virus that causes AIDS. While no conclusive evidence has yet been found that the HIV virus survives the laser surgery procedure, there is also no such evidence that it does not. Additionally, there is a risk of HIV contamination due to aerosolized blood and tissue debris, resulting from laser or orthopaedic procedures, which may remain in the air of the room where the medical procedure has been performed.
Most existing laser plume filtration systems are portable units that may be moved from operating room to operating room, as needed. They provide useful filtration features, but the treated air is recirculated back into the operating room, where microscopic particulate matter that escaped the filtration process remains for the next operating procedure. It is known to use portable units for filtration, and then exhaust the treated air outside of the operating room, but this is not commonly done because of the added inconvenience of properly configuring such a system. Further, the portable units frequently lack the system power to draw all of the airborne debris into the filtration unit in the first place.
One of the other problems with portable laser plume filtration systems of the prior art is that they frequently take up precious floor space in a busy operating room, requiring doctors and nurses to walk around them. In addition, if such a unit is placed off to the side of the room to keep it out of the way, then hoses must be connected to it leading to the patient, and the hoses then become an obstacle to contend with in the operating room. In addition, since these units are serf contained, including motorized vacuum pumps, they tend to be quite noisy, detracting from the feeling of order that is desirable in an operating room during surgery.
Manufacturers of portable units, in an effort to enhance portability and minimize size requirement, are often forced to minimize the vacuum power of the units. The effect, however, is to tend to reduce the portable unit's ability to draw all airborne particles into the filtration system, resulting in reduced effectiveness of the system.
The centralized laser plume evacuation system of the present invention overcomes difficulties described above and affords other features and advantages heretofore not available.